USB Turntables have existed for years now and I've owned a couple of them, but they've always been a big compromise.

The appeal is easy to understand: Take the analog warmth from records, and digitize it to have a great-sounding version of your music on the go. But that's way easier said then done.

A good analog-only turntable requires fine-tuning multiple components: The platter, the tone arm, the cue lever, the counterweight. Adding high-tech elements can detract from the quality of the core components, or add unnecessary noise that appears when playing or digitizing records. Thankfully none of that seems to be an issue here; instead, Sony has made a solid turntable, with the USB component acting as more of icing on the cake.

The turntable itself looks very plain, but not in a bad way. Sony has traded the modern trends of funky colors and a glossy exterior for a matte-black turntable that looks sharp. In a bid to simplify turntable controls, there are two dials on the PS HX500, one for power and the other for anti-skate.

I was pleased to see Sony built the option to switch between 33rpm and 45rpm speeds right into the power dial.As someone who has used a Rega turntable for the past few years, having to lift the platter and adjust the belt every time I wanted to play a 45 got tedious. Another nice touch is the fact that this turntable has a built-in preamp that can be enabled or disabled with the flip of a switch. This makes the PS HX500 compatible with any stereo system right out of the box.

The PS HX500 walks along the really fine line between quality and convenience. Typically, convenience comes at the cost of component quality, but that's simply not true here. This turntable is both high-end and dead simple to use, and it took out a lot of the friction between me and playing the records. Everything I tried worked smoothly and surprisingly quickly; the cue lever rose and fell without a stutter, and the platter went from totally still to ready-to-play almost immediately. If I could sum it up I'd say that the PSHX500 feels fine-tuned.

But all the fine-tuning in the world doesn't make up for poor sound quality, and I'm happy to say the PSHX500 delivers on that front. Albums, whether they were recorded in 1967 on analog tape and never touched a digital source, or recorded digitally in the 2000's sounded good. The included needle tracked the records really well, but if you'd like to upgrade it, then go right ahead. Might I suggest the Ortofon Blue? Once properly aligned and weighted, the tonearm and cue level weren't fussy.

So from the analog front the PSHX500 is solid, what about that USB port? Capable of capturing sound at high-res DSD levels of quality, the aim is to capture every iota of quality you can from your record collection. The problem with recording albums at DSD levels isn't with the turntable, it's the fact that a lot of modern records are recorded digitally, and the records are cut from "digital masters" which are over a lower quality. You'll never be able to hear something that isn't there, so when I digitized records for my tests, I did so at CD quality 16 bit 44.1Hz. At that quality I was very pleased with the results. I used my own record-ripping software of choice, Alpinesoft's VinylStudio, which streamlines the record-and-cleanup process of vinyl digitization, and the included USB cable. I've been digitizing records for years, and while the PS HX500's results weren't as good as my previous method, it was way more straightforward and less half the price.

If you've got old records from your youth, or you're a young crate digger who has become disenfranchised with streaming music and MP3s, there's a lot to like about the PS HX500. It's easy to use, makes records sing, and gives you the option to digitize your collection at a very high quality with only one cable.

This turntable bridges the digital divide in music better than any other I've used, and both music lovers looking to get back into vinyl and hardcore audiophiles will find a lot to like here.

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